Waiting On Wednesday: HarperCollins Winter 2013 Catalog

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill of Breaking The Spine in which an upcoming, eagerly anticipated release is highlighted on the blog.

This week, I've chosen to feature a few picks from the HarperCollins Winter 2013 Catalog. And let me tell you, it was HARD narrowing down my top four picks from all the books HarperCollins has coming out in Winter 2013. There is SO MUCH GOODNESS. So here, after much deliberation, are my top four anticipated reads, but they are by no means my only ones (I may just have to do a Part 2 next week!):

The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd
Date: January 29, 2013

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London, 1894. Juliet Moreau has built a life for herself—working as a maid, attending church on Sundays, and trying not to think about the scandal that ruined her life. After all, no one ever proved the rumors about her father’s gruesome experiments. But when she learns her father is alive and continuing his work on a remote tropical island, she is determined to find out if the accusations were true.
Juliet is accompanied by the doctor’s handsome young assistant and an enigmatic castaway, who both attract Juliet for very different reasons. They travel to the island only to discover the depths of her father’s madness: he has created animals that have been vivisected to resemble, speak, and behave as humans. Worse, one of the creatures has turned violent and is killing the island’s inhabitants. Juliet knows she must end her father’s dangerous experiments and escape the island, even though her horror is mixed with her own scientific curiosity. As the island falls into chaos, she discovers the extent of her father’s genius—and madness—in her own blood.

From reading and loving The Monstrumologist, I already know that I love the combination of historical fiction and realistic horror, so I am pumped for The Madman's Daughter! I love the creepy and disturbing feel of this synopsis and cover.

City of a Thousand Dolls by Miriam Forster
Date: February 5, 2013

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The girl with no past, and no future, may be the only one who can save their lives.
Nisha was abandoned at the gates of the City of a Thousand Dolls when she was just a child. Now sixteen, she lives on the grounds of the isolated estate, where orphan girls apprentice as musicians, healers, courtesans, and, if the rumors are true, assassins. Nisha makes her way as Matron’s assistant, her closest companions the mysterious cats that trail her shadow. Only when she begins a forbidden flirtation with the city’s handsome young courier does she let herself imagine a life outside the walls. Until one by one, girls around her start to die.
Before she becomes the next victim, Nisha decides to uncover the secrets that surround the girls’ deaths. But by getting involved, Nisha jeopardizes not only her own future in the City of a Thousand Dolls—but her own life.

Did somebody say assassins? I'm loving this trend in assassin books, and as a bonus, City of a Thousand Dolls has an ominous and mysterious tone that I really love, as well. And that cover is GORGEOUS!

Mind Games by Kiersten White
Date: February 19, 2013

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Fia was born with flawless instincts. Her first impulse, her gut feeling, is always exactly right. Her sister, Annie, is blind to the world around her—except when her mind is gripped by strange visions of the future.
Trapped in a school that uses girls with extraordinary powers as tools for corporate espionage, Annie and Fia are forced to choose over and over between using their abilities in twisted, unthinkable ways… or risking each other’s lives by refusing to obey.
In a stunning departure from her New York Times bestselling Paranormalcy trilogy, Kiersten White delivers a slick, edgy, heartstoppingly intense psychological thriller about two sisters determined to protect each other—no matter the cost.

Okay, so I will admit that I haven't yet had the chance to experience the awesomeness that is Kiersten White, but I feel like so many people love her and her work that I am already a pseudo-fan of hers somehow. So I will for sure be checking out her newest book, Mind Games. And also it has spies and superpowers and sounds fantastic!

Pulse by Patrick Carman
Date: February 26, 2013

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From New York Times bestselling author Patrick Carman, a teen fantasy-adventure of epic proportions. In 2051, some teens have a “pulse,” the power to move objects with their minds. Compulsively readable, with thrilling action scenes and a tender love story.
The year is 2051, and the world is still recognizable. With the help of her mysterious classmate Dylan Gilmore, Faith Daniels discovers that she can move objects with her mind. This telekinetic ability is called a “pulse,” and Dylan has the talent, too.
In riveting action scenes, Faith demonstrates her ability to use her pulse against a group of telekinesis masters so powerful they will flatten their enemies by uprooting street lights, moving boulders, and changing the course of a hurtling hammer so that it becomes a deadly weapon. But even with great talent, the mind—and the heart—can be difficult to control. If Faith wants to join forces with Dylan and save the world, she’ll have to harness the power of both.
Patrick Carman’s Pulse trilogy is a stunning, action-filled triumph about the power of the mind—and the power of love.

I won't deny that the very first thing that drew me to Pulse is that amazing cover. But upon reading the synopsis, I am definitely fully interested in reading it based on its content, too - superpower stories are one of my favourite things!


How about you? Are you waiting on any of these HarperCollins Winter 2013 reads? Are there any upcoming books from the HarperCollins Winter 2013 Catalog that I didn't include here that you feel I should add to my list?